SERENDIPITY AND THAT JULEP

(There are changes for the better I hope at 8am in blue)

Serendipity; the key to my life;leading to lifelong friendships, unplanned career paths,  a wife for 68 years, and now four children, three grandchildren, five great grandchildren who would not had  had an existence plus how many potential souls for the rest of history. Yes the world changed the moment I stepped on  that train and all the result of a last minute unplanned random choice of college. The impetus was a rejection based on religious quotas in the Ivy League Schools.

That is why at the age of 16 ½ the deviation from my self planned future began on a September day that was about as hot as this past week; when at the Plainfield station I boarded the B&O train that would take me to Washington where I would then take a Southern RR not air condition train to Charlottesville. That overheated windows opened car was a supportive mixer for a train car full of young men concerned about the immediate future.

This year’s hot weather   and memories of mint juleps were a stimulus to recall those glorious college years that followed. Those years that should be for all students the greatest and best in a life time.

Why do I say that? Because for those who are fortunate enough to have that opportunity; it represents a transition from parent domination to independence. That switch occurs in a society of your peers yet your main responsibility is to yourself. You alone make the choices, some bad, that will impact on your future; and you are aware of it.

For the first time in my life I would be away from home on my own. I was entering a new universe.  I had no knowledge of the University. Unlike today’s kids visitations to prospective colleges were not extremely rare nor did I know that despite its excellent scholastic standing UVa was considered a party school (more later).

In those days the University had about 5 to 6000 students in all schools.  Fraternities were of course dominant but there were a substantial number of those who did not join. After the first year students could live on the grounds, but accommodations were quiet limited. My first year roommate and I had a congenial relationship although he was in engineering school and had to study hard while I was in the College. We decided to get adjoining rooms in Randall Hall  an old two story building that was home to students in  all the schools; Engineering, Law ,Medical, Business, Architecture, and of course the College.

 It was there in that heterogeneous society that I became lifelong friends with Bob Sternkopf, an ex-marine who had been in China during the Panay incident, and Marty Ball, an army brat. In 1942 I was Marty’s best man when he was married in the “Little Church around the Corner”. Both served with distinction during the war; Marty was wounded at Salerno, and Bob retired as a Lt. Colonel. Both took advantage of the GI Bill of rights although Sternkopf stayed in service, Marty went back to Law School.

Randall Hall was notorious because one could always find visiting women in its halls and occasionally in the Johns. Its physical location was superb; it was located on a slight hill on the road across from the student nurses residence, McKim Hall.

I arrived at Virginia a shy boy who had not dated in High School. There were only a limited number of co-eds in the University with exception of the Nursing School and the Education School. Charlottesville was isolated and without a car social life for first year students was limited. On weekends we would go to Fry Springs, a road house, for its Friday  Saturday night dances to meet the local and country girls that came there because of the college boys. Not being a good dancer that too was a bust.

First year students could not have cars unless they had a handicap. Two boys in my dorm had suffered from polio; one had an old Studebaker Touring car, the other a Model A Ford roaster with a rumble seat. One winter weekend four of us-two in the rumble seat- took a unsuccessful trip to Southern Seminary; a Girl’s finishing school; High School and Junior College. Another non productive venture in the touring car was over Afton Mountain to Staunton and Mary Baldwin College and Fairfax Hall. Little did I know at that time that much of my life would evolve  in Staunton .

My second year’s social life was more interesting. Beginning with the spring session my good friend Marty and I set a goal; every night to go down town Charlottesville and pick up two different girls.  We had an unprecedented degree of success although towards the end our standards were pretty low. Never the less we both had very nice town girlfriends for an extended period of time. Marty’s was the telephone operator at the Patrick Henry Army camp where I returned to the States from Europe in 1945 just after Xmas. I was discharged 1/2/46 at Fort Momouth..

After about 7 years of not having contact with local girls; when I placed my call to Helen, I got a loud “Why Harold Yood how are you?” and then a history of the girls we had known. Moreover I was not charged with my long long call.

Don’t misunderstand; girls were not the prime focus in our life. We were only able to have such an “active social life” which got better in our 3^rd year when we each had “private” rooms because we kept up with our scholastic responsibilities including being on the Dean’s List. And the best was yet to come.

(More corrections and changes 4pm)